Vancouver

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Downtown Vancouver
The first thing that struck me about this place, having just left bustling, dirty Latin American cities, was how clean and quiet it was. You can barely hear the electric cars as they cruise down the street and if you step on to the road in front of them, rather than beeping at you and swerving so as not to damage their car, they stop and let you cross the road. What a change.

The Trolley Company
After 6 months of travelling I arrived in this city with enough money to check into the cheapest hostel I could find and buy some food from the asian grocery store around the corner. Time to get a job. Thus begun 2 months with the Vancouver Trolley Company, a job with many perks but also much time spent extremely bored selling my soul on the streets. But to focus on the good stuff I got to go on a sailing trip in the bay, a sunset tour on the gondola up to Grouse Mountain, a Whale watching trip, a tour to Vancouver Island, into museums, the aquarium and tours around the city, all for free. Vancouver's a great place for free stuff. You can also go to heaps of concerts, use the internet at the library, yoga and the drop in centre and yummy Indian food at the mosque temple.

North Vancouver
Just a short ferry and bus ride gets you to some beautiful forested areas north of the city. There is a 4 day hike that you can break up into a series of day trips. I went on one such hike with a group of people from the hostel led by a crazy Thai dude who led us along slippery rocks, up vertical cliffs and through prickley bushes.

Manning Park Went for a trip out to this provincial park a few hours to the east of Vancouver and stayed for a couple of nights with our tent pitched on some grass at a resort with the Natural History Society of Vancouver. Use the facilities at the resort - pool, spa etc, and went on hikes in the surrounding mountains and along the river.
WhistlerWent out to Whistler with Kristy, a Canadian girl that I worked with at the Trolley Co. Stayed at her place amongst the forest and got cheap drinks at all the bars that Kristy had friends working at. Went canoeing on a lake and generally had a chilled time.

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